2016... Just Getting Started

Going down the calendar road for pretty much just the first SIX months, 2016 already looks to be an amazing year. Many new titles are still continuing into the new year; some older titles, and some that are just waiting to take off. VIZ has plenty still up its sleeve, especially with its Shonen Jump and Shonen Jump Advance brand.

ONE-PUNCH MAN has been a series that I have been long awaiting to come out stateside. Not only has the manga blown up within the pages of Shonen Jump Magazine, but it also has just gotten started with its collective editions. V.04 hit shelves this week and each volume is more explosive then the last. What really appeals about this series isn't that it just is another action packed Jump title, but it really hits a solid punch to almost all manga series in this time period. To me there hasn't been an amazing and fun series like this since the early 1990's when Dragon Ball and YuYu Hakusho ruled the Shonen world in manga.

This isn't the only awesome Shonen Jump title that is continuing this year. World Trigger's Invasion arc should be finishing up in the collected volumes and moving onto the current storyline which is running in the pages of Shonen Jump. Also My Hero Academia continues its freshman year with V.03 next month, as well as Assassination Classroom; both series also have respectable anime series (Assassination Classroom Season 2 started this week and My Hero Academia's premiere is later this spring).


Not only do we have amazing new series to look forward to but some awesome classics as well. Last year brought us a long awaited title back into print with All-New Chapters. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure originally started being released back when I was in college and it was only Part 03 that was released due to it being the most popular story arc that appealed to many fans, new and old. Last year however VIZ released Part 01 in its entirety, followed by Part 02. We only have the first volume of four released as of me writing this, but the remaining volumes will all be released this year so we will finally have a fluid Part 01-03 Story. This isn't the only great thing about the JoJo Franchise; the anime version of Part 04 is coming out this spring, as well as the Eyes of Heaven PS4 game. Only time will tell if we maybe get the remaining volumes of the series in print seeing on how popular this series is right now as it has had a major revival around the world. Hell, if we are lucky we might get some amazing hardcover reprints of Part 03.

Last year also brought some very mature titles to a close; one of them becoming one of my all time favorite mangas, Bokurano - Ours. This year though many are still being continued.

Both MONSTER and Master Keaton will be continuing throughout the year and are definitely worth checking out. Not only that but another series that has grown on me is Inuyashiki from Kodansha. Although the later has not finished publication in Japan yet it still is one tile that will truly be pushing strong this coming year.

Another title that has really pushed the limit and has surprised me has been Tokyo Ghoul. The first four volumes have been released here and it has become another hit fan favorite. The series finished years ago in Japan but has such a huge cult following we finally got multiple anime series, OVAs, and even video games being released. Now that the series has finally made its way to the states, it just continues getting bigger and bigger. Season 1 of the anime is also available by Funimation if you aren't a huge fan of mangas, with Season 2 most likely to be released later this year (although the manga is truly the better media to pursue getting into for this title).

Moving on from series continuing, some are only just beginning, or what I should say is getting a re beginning. RD-VEDA, one of CLAMP's masterpieces will be getting a brand new release in an Omnibus presentation later this year by Dark Horse. Dark Horse has been pushing the envelope on CLAMP titles since last year as they have continued to re-release most of CLAMP's back catalog, which includes Legal Drug, as well as fan favorites Chobits and Cardcaptor Sakura, but also releasing newer titles like Drug and Drop which is the long awaited sequel to Legal Drug.

Kodansha as well as been doing an amazing job with CLAMP's other works with re-releases of xxxHOLIC and Tsubasa Chronicles, but also bringing us the long awaited sequel to Tsubasa Chronicles, Tsubasa World Chronicles.

Last but surely not least is probably my own favorite series currently being released, My Love Story. VIZ released this little Shojo Gem last year and I must say I wasn't expecting to fall in love with it as much as I did. Not only did I fall in love with it, but millions of anime fans around the world did as well when an anime adaption was released last year as well. I know I haven't done a review of this series, but maybe I might have to one day. This series truly does put a smile on everyone's face in any form. I remember first reading it and how much I fell in love with it. When the anime came out my partner decided to watch it with me and he too fell in love with Takeo and Yamato's story. The anime has also been licensed by Sentai Filmworks and an English dub too!

These are just a few amazing titles coming out in the next few months that I wanted to share with you all. 2016 has just began and already their are multiple new titles at our fingertips. Whether your a fan of action, romance, or classics. The manga genre has something for everyone.